School Board names next superintendent

The Leavenworth School Board conducted a short, special meeting Monday night with one item on the agenda — updating the school district's search for a new superintendent.

By JOSHUA ROBERTSjroberts@leavenworthtimes.com

The Leavenworth School Board conducted a short, special meeting Monday night with one item on the agenda — updating the school district's search for a new superintendent.Board members went a step beyond the update — they unanimously approved, 7-0, naming Michael D. Roth, currently of the Clearwater School District, as its next superintendent. The School Board discussed its three superintendent candidates for about two hours Monday, leading up to the formal vote."We have had a pretty extensive search and we feel like this is the candidate that's going to represent our district and our city," School Board President Nancy Klemp said. "So, we're very pleased with our candidate."She also praise the two other candidates — interim superintendent Bret Church and Rex Bollinger, Doniphan West School District superintendent and Doniphan West Primary School principal."We also feel that the other two candidates were excellent and this was a very difficult decision for us," Klemp said. "It was very, very difficult. We appreciate all of the community help we had, all the administration, all the employee help. We hope this works for everyone."Klemp said the school district has not reached a formal contract agreement with Roth, though he has verbally accepted the position and is set to begin work July 1. Church will remain as interim until Roth takes over.Klemp said it's her understanding Church will remain with the Leavenworth district as either an assistant or associate superintendent.The School Board began its search for a new superintendent in December 2013, when Kelly Crane submitted her resignation. Church, who was the assistant superintendent at the time, was named the interim.Klemp said Church has the School Board's appreciation for the quality work he's done while serving as interim."We had three excellent candidates and this was a very good problem," she said. "With that kind of problem, you feel badly about the other candidates that aren't selected."We need Dr. Church. He's excellent. … He's done an excellent job with everything we've asked him to do. We have absolutely no problem with Dr. Church. We could find no faults with what he's done since he's taken over."District officials said additional information about the new superintendent could be released sometime today.